Man with a Movie Camera

Man with a Movie Camera

A landmark of silent cinema, Dziga Vertov’s Man with a Movie Camera is one of the most influential films ever made. Rejecting plot, actors, and traditional storytelling, the film presents a dynamic, non-linear portrait of everyday life in Soviet cities including Moscow, Kyiv, Odesa, and Kharkiv.

Structured as a “city symphony,” the film captures the rhythms of modern urban life, from factory labor and streetcars to leisure, marriage, and birth, while also revealing the process of filmmaking itself. Cameramen, editors, and machines appear onscreen, emphasizing Vertov’s belief that the camera could perceive reality in ways the human eye could not.

Using then-revolutionary techniques such as split screens, superimposition, and rapid montage, the film remains playful, challenging, and visually exhilarating. Once controversial, it is now widely regarded as a masterpiece of the Soviet avant-garde and one of the greatest documentaries ever made.

This special screening features The Anvil Orchestra performing the film’s original score live.

Format: DCP

Talented musicians, composers, and arrangers, Miller and Donahue have performed individually and collectively in celebrated music and art festivals as well as preeminent cultural institutions around the globe. These include SNF Nostos Festival in Athens, Greece; IDFA in Amsterdam, the Netherlands: Lincoln Center (NYC); Pordenone Silent Film Festival (Italy); The Academy of Motion Pictures (Los Angeles); The Louvre (France); The San Francisco Silent Film Festival (S.F.); MASS MoCA (Massachusetts); National Gallery of the Arts (Washington DC); The Institute of Contemporary Arts (Boston, MA); New England Conservatory of Music (Boston, MA); The Telluride Film Festival (Colorado); and All Tomorrow’s Parties (international), among others.